Interesting Tidbits for December 2nd

Things worth reading for December 2nd from 07:06 to 07:35:

• Ignoring Internet Banner Ads – “Despite having come of age with the Internet, the survey’s 18-34-year-olds were about as likely as their elders to pick banner ads as the genre they ignore the most (42 percent made that choice). Likewise, 21 percent of the 18-34s said search-engine ads are the genre they’re likeliest to ignore.”
• Austin Powers in Goldmember, Tom Cruise | 20 Movies That Peak With Opening Scene? | Photo 1 of 21 | EW.com – Fun list, but can I just say that EW arranges this so that it gets 21 page views instead of just 1 and that doesn’t make me 21 times more valuable to advertisers.
• Why Gawker is moving beyond the blog – Interesting piece by Nick Denton on Gawker’s new format and ad opportunities… I’m not sure why it’s in LifeHacker rather than on Gawker or in a more industry focused trade pub, but interesting.
• Richard Dawkins | Christopher Hitchens is my hero of 2010 | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk – Terrific profile of Hitchens by Dawkins as the former battles aggressive cancer.

  “Eloquent, witty, literate, intelligent, knowledgeable, brave, erudite, hard-working, honest (who could forget his clean-through skewering of Mother Teresa’s hypocrisy?), arguably the most formidable debater alive today yet at the same time the most gentlemanly, Christopher Hitchens is a giant of the mind and a model of courage. A lesser man would have seized the excuse of a mortal illness to duck responsibility and take it easy. Not this soldier. He will not go gentle into that good night; but instead of a futile raging against the dying of the light he rages, with redoubled energy (and concentrated power in his vibrant, Richard Burton tones) against the same obscurantist, vicious or just plain silly targets as have long engaged him. But he never rants. His is a controlled, disciplined rage, and don’t get on the wrong side of it.”

• Diller steps down as IAC CEO, Malone swaps stake for cash | Reuters – “Barry Diller is stepping down as chief executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp, the company said, adding it had bought out one of its largest shareholders, John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp.

  “IAC said on Thursday Liberty had sold its entire equity stake in IAC in exchange for $220 million in cash and the Evite and Gifts.com businesses. The online businesses will become part of Liberty’s Interactive unit.

  “Liberty’s stake had included 60 percent of voting rights of all classes of IAC stock, which had been represented by Diller — a long-time business associate of Malone, the cable television pioneer.

  “The two media moguls fell out in a 2008 court case over how Diller used Malone’s voting rights in IAC.

  “Diller, 68, will remain as chairman and senior executive, while the company has appointed former Match.com Chief Executive Greg Blatt, 42, to be IAC’s new chief executive.”

• Netflix offering $100K for TV episodes – NYPOST.com – “Netflix is making an aggressive play for in-season episodes of hit TV shows to expand its Web streaming service.

  “The company is in talks with studios about gaining access to current episodes of primetime shows and is willing to pay between $70,000 and $100,000 per episode, according to a person familiar with the matter. Netflix had no comment.

  “Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has made no secret of his desire to move beyond movie rentals and beef up TV offerings. While the company has added a number of shows, such as “Nip/Tuck,” “Veronica Mars” and “The Family Guy, they are mostly episodes from previous seasons.”